how often do soldiers get to call or write home when in Ramadi?

Question

I haven't heard from my boyfriend in just over 2 weeks. He is stationed in Ramadi. How often should I expect to hear from him? When should I start to worry. I check the casualty reports frequently, just in case. When he was at his first stop, Kuwait, I got emails all the time and calls, but it has dropped off some. We didn't have a fight or anything, so I know it's not anything like that. I think I just need to understand what it is like and what real level of expectations I should have.

Answer 1

It's only been two weeks.

It depends on his job. If he's combat arms and goes on a lot of missions, you won't hear from him very often. The guys sitting behind desks who never leave the wire get to IM, e-mail, and call very often. (It blows my mind!)

So... it definitely depends on the job.

As far as mail goes, usually a letter from you to him will take about a week. However, a letter coming FROM Iraq to you will take about four weeks.

Stop checking the casualty reports. First of all, you're making yourself crazy. Don't torture yourself. Please. It's going to be a long deployment. Second.. the casualty reports aren't made public until well after family has been notified.

Think positive, stay positive, and if you can't... PRETEND to be positive when you talk to him. Talking to you will be the highlight of his week, month, etc. Make it count. Stay upbeat. It will help him keep his mind on his mission and keep him safe.

Take care of yourself, good luck, and try not to worry so much, o.k.?

-- An army wife

Answer 2

If there is a communication blackout because of an injury or casualty, they will completely cut off the phones and internet. The purpose of this is to keep the family from hearing about something happening to their soldier through unofficial channels.

It's not unusual for it to be that long before they can contact home, especially if he just got in country. They are probably very busy trying to fill the place of the unit they are replacing. He may be out on mission for days or weeks at a time. Or he may just be too tired when he gets in to go wait in line to get the phone for a few minutes. Hopefully, once they get settled in it will get better. My neighbor's husband was in Ramadi a year or so ago, and while the communications there weren't the best, she usually heard from him fairly often.

Also, be careful online. It's not generally a good idea to discuss where your soldier is located or what he is doing when he is deployed. There have been documented cases of people posting information online, and insurgents using that information to target and kill American soldiers. Just because he tells you something, doesn't necessarily mean it is ok to share with anyone, especially strangers on the internet. So just be careful.

Try to stay busy and not watch the news/casualty lists too much. Once you get into more of a routine with him being gone and you get a few months under your belts, it usually gets easier.

Answer 3

I am stationed in Baghdad, but there are a few people from my unit out in Ramadi... If you want to email me with your boyfriend's name, I can try and see if anyone knows him.

Their communications systems out there aren't the best. When I went through Kuwait, we had constant access to internet and phones; I don't believe Ar Ramadi is the same.

Also, as someone mentioned, he could just be very busy with the mission. Try not to worry too much; I know I can't tell you to not worry at all because you will anyway :)

If anything happens to him, generally his family will find out that day (they are usually pretty good about notifying next of kin pretty quickly). Do you know/talk to his family? He may (or may not) have been in touch with them. I know this might sound harsh, but with the little phone/email time he has, he may have called his family. Give them a ring and see if they've heard from him.

As for comms blackouts (when someone is injured), that only applies to talking about the incident... it doesn't prevent people from calling completely.

Good luck and hope you hear from him soon.

Answer 4

It really depends on the job... my husband was stationed in Ramadi as an infantryman in 1/1 Bravo with the USMC. I was lucky if I heard from him once a month. Letters take forever, and if he's infantry then they dont have a lot of time to write. I was his girlfriend still when he was over, so of course I had no acess to any information. I can remember checking the casuality list on CNN.com daily... it's not an easy spot to be in. My advice would be to write to him often, and prepare for that fact that you will begin to see a change in him. Your best support is other military girlfriends/wives, and there are a lot of groups online.

Nothing about deployment is easy hun, and any woman that has stood behind a member of the armed forces knows that. Just remember it's not anything you did that makes him not call, and in all truth hearing from you is probably one of the best things to him in this world. Just keep your chin up, and time will pass.

If you ever need anything, of course feel free to contact me. I do have myspace, which is also a great source for military spouce support and a very common way that the troops communicate with their loved ones. Best of luck, God bless, Semper Fi, and you and your boyfriend will be in my prayers.

Answer 5

letters can take a long time to get here from there. He may not have a lot of access to a phone where he is. Try not to check the casualty reports, really, just try to think positively. He is there on a mission, probably thinking about you a lot too, but he probably j is not able to call you or email you right now like he would like to. He could also be in the field and unable to call. Give it time. It's not easy where he is and it's not easy being here either worrying about him all the time. Maybe he has family that you could call. Take care of yourself and he'll be home soon. You're both in our prayers.

Answer 6

My butt munch of a brother is at Ramadi and he usually gets online with Yahoo messenger every day or every couple of days. Don't start to worry. He may not have access to the internet right now.

Answer 7

there are several reasons, could be that hes out on a mission, could be that they lost communications, could be no commo allowed at this time for operations reasons, and could be something you might not want to know, be prepared for times like this, my girlfriend worried sick and her father told me she watched the news everynight and would cry if she didnt hear from me, and that she would sit and stare at the computer for hours waiting for an email, i felt bad about that, when she would get one, her parents said she was never happier and now i feel even worse for not contacting her more often. So dont get too down about it, its the not knowing thats troubling you and there really is nothing i can tell you except to try taking an art class or something, stained glass, pottery, anything creative to let your mind work and ease your worrying.

Answer 8

He may be at an FOB and can't send mail out regularly, but they can write whenever and as often as they like. Kuwait was easy, but depending where you are in country is different. There were times that I didn't hear from my son for 2-3 Months because of his duties!

Answer 9

as much as he/she wants to write or call. there is a call center on the camp and it depends if they have a calling card or want to buy one. as far as email and mail...as much as they want to write or get time to right. plus its at times busy, at times boring so we don't have much to say, not to mention alot of what we do falls under operations security and can't talk about it for the possibilty of bad guys monitoring comms..

Answer 10

my friends man emails her all day, unless there is a death, then communications are shut off, til they can notify the family. hope this helps you.